RARE FIND OF 200-YEAR-OLD SHIPWRECK IN GULF OF MEXICO

Scientists call it one of most well-preserved specimens in region

NEW ORLEANS 
An oil company exploration crew’s chance discovery of a 200-year-old shipwreck in a little-charted stretch of the Gulf of Mexico is yielding a trove of information to scientists who say it’s one of the most well-preserved old wrecks found in the Gulf.

“When we saw it, we were all just astonished, because it was beautifully preserved, and by that I mean for a 200-year-old shipwreck,” said Jack Irion, maritime archaeologist with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in New Orleans.

Video shows muskets and gin bottles littering the Gulf bottom, along with sea life mingling in the wreck.

Scientists say the ship is about 200 miles off the northern Gulf coast and about 4,000 feet deep. The depth has kept it largely undisturbed during two centuries of storms and hurricanes. And although most of the ship’s wood dissolved long ago, the copper hull and its contents remain in place. “The wood is deteriorated. It’s largely been eaten away by marine organisms, but what is left is a copper shell which would have been the lower part of the hull which was sheathed in copper to protect it,” Irion said.

Among the wreckage were “a rather astonishing number of bottles,” particularly square gin bottles known as case bottles, as well as wine bottles, Irion said.

There were many ceramic cups, plates and bowls that didn’t appear to be cargo. Some were green shell-edged pearl ware, a British import popular in the United States between 1800 and 1830.

The ship’s kitchen stove was found intact. “Very few shipwrecks have been found that still have the stove intact,” Irion said. “You can very clearly see the features of the stove. It’s in rather good shape.”

Also discovered were an anchor, cannons and muskets. Irion said researchers haven’t determined whether it was a merchant, military or pirate ship.

There was plenty of pirate and military activity in the Gulf at the time, surrounding the War of 1812, the Texas revolution and the Mexican-American War. The buccaneer Jean Lafitte and other pirates sailed the Gulf to smuggle goods into New Orleans, Galveston, Texas; and elsewhere. “It was a fairly hazardous place to be if you were a merchant ship, so it was not unlikely that you would be carrying a cannon on board to protect yourself,” Irion said. Researchers believe the ship likely sank during a storm. The 56-day expedition ended April 29. None of the wreckage or cargo has been brought up — and it might never be. The authorities want to explore as much as they can before making that decision.